Best Gift Shopping > Music > Meditation
|
|
Best Gift Shopping > Music > Meditation
|
|
Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya(more) »rank: 327by: Enya
Our review: essential recording:New Age diva Enya first became widely known when her 1988 album Watermark sold 4 million copies and launched the single 'Orinoco Flow.' Her follow-up, Shepherd Moons, was even more successful, selling over 10 million copies despite its slightly lower grade of ethereal enchantment. In 1997 she released Paint the Sky with Stars, an assortment of her best work from these two early albums plus gems from 1995's The Memory of Trees and the soundtrack to the BBC series The Celts. The most melodic and atmospheric examples of Enya's lovely Celtic-flavored songwriting shine on this disc. Those unfamiliar with the former ... Detail |
Homecoming(more) »rank: 1007by: Jim Brickman
Our review: :Homecoming, pianist Jim Brickman's 16th career release (his third with a holiday theme, joining The Gift and Peace), is an unerringly pleasant, gently uplifting package that delivers what most listeners probably want--a smart-sounding, family-friendly audio backdrop suited for any December gathering. Brickman's mix of nine instrumentals and four vocal tracks (seven are rearranged traditional works) carefully straddles a fine line between sophistication and sentimentality. Happily, other than a few heavily star-dusted moments (the final note of 'I Saw Three Ships' sparkles as though it was touched by Tinkerbell's wand), the schmaltz factor is acceptably modest. More demanding Brickman listeners will probably wish he ... Detail |
||
Watermark(more) »rank: 694by: Enya
Our review: essential recording:Enya's 1988 recording Watermark achieved landmark success with her groundbreaking use of multi-tracking technology to fuse new age and Celtic themes and instrumentation. The meticulous production defines her sound and achieves continuity even while weaving together tender ballads, piano pieces, massively layered vocal harmonies, and symphonic synthesizer movements. Although Enya's pristine voice isn't especially strong, her lead vocals possess a vulnerability that reflects the lyrics' sense of personal searching. From the ubiquitous, frothy single 'Orinoco Flow' (which was used to hawk Crystal Light on TV) to the hard, bold edge of 'Cursum Perficio,' Enya's style remains fresh and engaging today. --Richard ... Detail |
A Day Without Rain(more) »rank: 677by: Enya
Our review: :As each new Enya release has washed over all who have ears to hear, as each heaven-touched work leaves admirers sitting speechless in slack-jawed wonder, questions eventually come to mind: Might her layered, choral-like approach gradually become predictable or stale? Will she ever exhaust her deep reservoir of soul-stirring ideas? Remarkably, A Day Without Rain, Enya's fourth release since her 1988 breakthrough, Watermark, establishes new artistic heights for the gifted Irish vocalist and keyboardist. The project, polished and refined over a five-year period in the company of longtime collaborators Nicky Ryan (producer) and Roma Ryan (lyricist), may qualify as her best yet--a radiant, ... Detail |
||
Amarantine(more) »rank: 963by: Enya
Our review:Album Description:The first album in five years from Enya follows the biggest-selling album of her illustrious career, the six-times platinum A Day Without Rain, which transcended all commercial expectations. Having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, Enya is one of the most successful female artists of all time and second only to U2 as the biggest selling Irish artist in history. :From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb, Amarantine is instantly recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. Although it's been five years since her last CD, on Amarantine it's ... Detail |
Shepherd Moons(more) »rank: 1178by: Enya
Our review: essential recording:The success of her first international hit, Watermark, confirmed Enya as less a singer or songwriter than a sonic architect: working with producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan, the classically-trained pianist built vaulting cathedrals of sound, framed by luminous piano, shimmering synthesizer orchestrations, and, above all, the seemingly infinite layers of vocal harmonies she plied on every song. The deeply romantic Celtic pop on its 1991 successor, Shepherd Moons, sustains the same spectrum of hushed reverie and surging, rhapsodic releases, as well as its mix of ballads, floating midtempo pieces, and forays into Celtic and Latin--and it's every ... Detail |
||
Autumn (Windham Hill 20th Anniversary Edition)(more) »rank: 1237by: George Winston
Our review: essential recording:The precursor to 1982's commercial breakthrough, December, George Winston's 1980 Windham Hill debut boasts all the lyrical power and poignancy of its follow-up. A simple, clear recording for solo piano, Autumn finds Winston developing simple melodic motifs with studied left-hand underpinning, on hypnotic pieces like 'Woods,' which moves from a brisk rhythmic figure to rubato minor-key runs. Leaving pauses and breaths in all the right places, Winston suggests the play of color and light, the comfortable melancholy, and the encroaching slow-down that characterizes the fall season. Full of memorable themes, sure pacing, and whiffs of classical grandeur, Autumn is a timeless ... Detail |
Indigo Ocean Dreams: 4 Children's Stories Designed to Decrease Stress, Anger and Anxiety while Increasing Self-Esteem and Self-Awareness (Indigo Ocean Dreams)(more) »rank: 4077by: Lori Lite
Our review: :Indigo Ocean Dreams is a 60 minute CD/audio book designed to entertain your child in an ocean setting while introducing them to four relaxation and stress-management techniques. Children follow their sea friends along as they learn to release and manage anger with Angry Octopus, build self-esteem with Affirmation Weaver, implement Yoga breathing with Sea Otter Cove and visualize with Bubble Riding. Designed as the sequel to Indigo Dreams, this CD offers longer stories and expands on the relaxation techniques of breathing, visualizations, muscular relaxation and affirmations. Ideal for older children ages 6-12, or as step two for those already familiar with Indigo ... Detail |
||
Christmas Dreams(more) »rank: 1054by: 2002
Our review: :Indigo Ocean Dreams is a 60 minute CD/audio book designed to entertain your child in an ocean setting while introducing them to four relaxation and stress-management techniques. Children follow their sea friends along as they learn to release and manage anger with Angry Octopus, build self-esteem with Affirmation Weaver, implement Yoga breathing with Sea Otter Cove and visualize with Bubble Riding. Designed as the sequel to Indigo Dreams, this CD offers longer stories and expands on the relaxation techniques of breathing, visualizations, muscular relaxation and affirmations. Ideal for older children ages 6-12, or as step two for those already familiar with Indigo ... Detail |
The Celts(more) »rank: 2003by: Enya
Our review: :Born Eithne Ni Bhraonain, this classically-trained pianist was kid sister in the musical family that became Clannad, joining the Irish band in 1979 but dropping out amicably three years later to pursue her own muse. This music, produced in the mid-'80s as the soundtrack to a BBC series, was released as her debut in 1987 and promptly ignored--yet its mix of atmospheric soundscapes and Enya's lush, layered vocals, sung in both English and Gaelic, is the template for her subsequent global hits, beginning with Watermark the following year. --Sam Sutherland Detail |